TUCSON, Ariz.- The Arizona baseball team fell 5-4 in 18 innings to the second-ranked Stanford Cardinal Friday evening/Saturday morning at Frank Sancet Field. The contest was the longest game time-wise at 5:19 and the second most innings played in school history. The loss drops Arizona to 21-13 overall and 2-5 in the Pac-10. Stanford improves to 21-6 and 1-0 in conference action.

Stanford's Chris Carter, who had doubled to lead off the top of the 18th and moved to third on a wild pitch, scored on a passed ball off the glove of Chris Cunningham to plate what proved to be the winning run. Cunningham, the only catcher still available on the Arizona roster, was behind the plate for all 18 innings.

The Wildcats rallied from one-run deficits tie the game at 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, in the 12th and 15th innings before succumbing in the 18th. Reliever Jason Snyder was the hard luck loser, dropping to 1-1 on the season. Ryan McCally, just the second Stanford pitcher to take the mound in the game, picked up the win with eight innings of relief work to improve to 2-0 on the season. Cardinal starter Jeremy Guthrie went 10 innings and Arizona's Sean Rierson went eight.

Arizona first baseman Pat Reilly established a new NCAA record for putouts in a game with 29. According to the 2002 Official NCAA Baseball Record Book the previous mark for putouts in a game was 26, shared by Clay Hall of Davidson (1994) and Randy Guerra of Miami (Fla.) (1979).

The two teams will return to action later today for the second game of the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. with Arizona's Joe Little facing Stanford's Tim Cunningham on the mound.

Notes: The 1973 team went 19 innings against Chapman in a non-conference game on March 29 to establish the school record for most innings played ... The Wildcats' previous longest game time-wise was last season in a 5-4, 5:04 loss at Mississippi.